Barely A Live from Escape May16-26 2024 Trieste (Venice) to Barcelona/10-Day Mediterranean: Italy Croatia Greece France Spain

[CazV]

Disappointed to be hearing about the lack of cookies in the Studio Lounge! 

 

Loving all your photos 😊

[schmoopie17]

14 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

I was awoken shortly before 6:00pm by Cruise Director Jack announcing the evening's programs. 

Glad to see Jack's back. He was gone for a while (I believe an extended vacation).

 

He's our second-favorite CD, after Simon when he was on the Prima. (Or was it Alvin? Theodore? I get my Chipmunks confused.)

[schmoopie17]

14 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

The remedy, go downstairs to O'Sheehan's and order some chicken wings (ordered ours w sauce on the side, it's "better" IMHO)  

 

Ordering the wings at O'Sheahan's "crispy" with the sauce on the side is the only way to fly.

[Sugar Magnolia]

13 hours ago, dancedemon said:

How did you like the tribute show?

 

The Divas Tribute at The Supper Club was good but not spectacular. It could very well be that I am Divaed out from watching similar shows on too many cruises, dare I say. If only NCL would put on a nice, long 5-hour German opera.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Glad to see Jack's back. He was gone for a while (I believe an extended vacation).

 

He's our second-favorite CD, after Simon when he was on the Prima. (Or was it Alvin? Theodore? I get my Chipmunks confused.)

 

Simon with the woohoo?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

I walked in at 5:30 for dinner at Food Republic and was seated right away. Everything I ordered was great…just too much of it. I used my FAS dining package and was entitled to 4 dishes. 

 

 

 

Pork Belly Bao

 

 

Thai Steak and Noodle Salad. 

 

Spicy Pacific Salmon Roll

Dynamite Roll

 

 

 

Sadly there was no one with whom to share this meal so there might have been some left for the fishes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 18 by Sugar Magnolia

[bluesea777]

Great review and pictures! 

 

Can you please enlighten us on your travel from Venice Mestre to Trieste? Would love to read about it, asking for a friend (and ourselves!).

 

Thanks!

 

 

Edited May 18 by bluesea777

[Sugar Magnolia]

1 minute ago, bluesea777 said:

Great review and pictures! 

 

Can you please enlighten us on your travel from Venice Maestre to Trieste? Would love to read about it, asking for a friend (and ourselves!).

 

Thanks!

 

Yes I promise I will get back to those logistical details. 
 

[graphicguy]

21 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

I walked in at 5:30 for dinner at Food Republic and was seated right away. Everything I ordered was great…just too much of it. I used my FAS dining package and was entitled to 4 dishes. 

 

 

 

Pork Belly Bao

 

 

Thai Steak and Noodle Salad. 

 

Spicy Pacific Salmon Roll

Dynamite Roll

 

 

 

Sadly there was no one with whom to share this meal so there might have been some left for the fishes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

luuuuuvvvvv Food Republic!!!

[Sugar Magnolia]

I saw too many of these on the Prima TA last week which has triggered a kind of PTSD for me. 
 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Let’s see what kind of secrets they will share at this Exclusive Gathering. 
 

 

[schmoopie17]

6 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Simon with the woohoo?

 

That's him. And yours truly…

Edited May 18 by schmoopie17

[mking8288]

4 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Let’s see what kind of secrets they will share at this Exclusive Gathering. 

 

Well, kudo for the Escape leadership to use a better venue like the Supper Club to host such a large gathering vs. Prima using that Observation Lounge, not to mention that neither the Prima Captain or GM said a word, if they show up at all ... as we surely couldn't see or tell otherwise.  Do tell us later ... is there a door prize drawing ?? 

[schmoopie17]

Exclusive??

Isn't practically everyone Silver or above? Could be a massive turnout.

What's below Silver...Plastic?

 

Edited May 18 by schmoopie17

[Sugar Magnolia]

Before I get too far ahead and plunge into this port intensive sailing review, I want to take you guys back to Mestre and Trieste for a moment.

 

To recap, on Sunday I disembarked from the Prima in Southampton and stayed one night at the Moxy Southampton. On Monday I took the National Express coach from Southampton to Heathrow Airport; flew British Airways from Heathrow to Venice; took the city bus from Venice Airport to Mestre Train Station; then walked across the street from the train station to the Best Western Plus Hotel Bologna in Mestre. On Tuesday, I took the train from Mestre Train Station to Venezia Santa Lucia to visit Venice for a day.

 

Then on Wednesday, I took the two hour train ride from Mestre to Trieste so that I would not have to stress on embarkation day (Thursday). This turned out to be one of my rare smarter decisions, as I found out that many of my fellow passengers on the Escape took the same scheduled Frecciarossa 9707 train to Trieste on Thursday morning and were delayed over three hours due to track conditions affected by inclement weather. Following their predicament on social media was harrowing, but it appears they arrived in time to board the ship. As it turned out, the ship’s departure was delayed for one hour in order to wait for 65 passengers stuck in a traffic jam from the airport due to an accident on the road.

 

Back in February, I used the Trenitalia app to book the Frecciarossa 9707 high speed train departing Venezia Mestre at 10:11am and arriving Trieste Centrale at 12:05pm. In Business Class you can select your own seat and there is room to store luggage. The ticket price was €13.90.

 

When I said there is room to store luggage I meant this…

 

 

All of the large luggage racks were taken (all 4 of them) so I had to be creative. There were not many riders in my carriage so I eventually moved my luggage across the aisle from me.

 

 

You receive a small snack in Business Class.

 

 

There were restrooms on the train but get into the habit of bringing your own tissues/toilet paper when traveling because you never know…

 

When we arrived in Trieste, there were no taxis waiting in a queue as you would expect at a train station. I crossed the street and walked across the plaza to a cafe in case I needed assistance. I had read that Ubers might be difficult in Trieste so I downloaded two apps: appTaxi and itTaxi. I first tried booking on appTaxi but no taxis were available. Then I used itTaxi and the taxi arrived in less than 5 minutes. The quick taxi ride to my hotel was €8.

 

While on the subject of taxis in Trieste, I strongly recommend downloading those taxi apps because taxis were hard to come by in Trieste. Even then, I had difficulty booking a taxi on embarkation day, as both the Escape and the Viva were in town, though docked at different ports.. I eventually asked my hotel to book a taxi for me, and it took them about 20 minutes just to get through to someone. 

 

I was prepared to walk to the port from the hotel...half a mile on flat streets is a cinch However, dragging that big wheeler and carrying a heavy backpack was not my idea of a vacation.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

9 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

 

Well, kudo for the Escape leadership to use a better venue like the Supper Club to host such a large gathering vs. Prima using that Observation Lounge, not to mention that neither the Prima Captain or GM said a word, if they show up at all ... as we surely couldn't see or tell otherwise.  Do tell us later ... is there a door prize drawing ?? 

 

I never did make it to the one on the Prima. I was relying on you for any important breaking news.

 

[debenson0723]

2 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Before I get too far ahead and plunge into this port intensive sailing review, I want to take you guys back to Mestre and Trieste for a moment.

 

To recap, on Sunday I disembarked from the Prima in Southampton and stayed one night at the Moxy Southampton. On Monday I took the National Express coach from Southampton to Heathrow Airport; flew British Airways from Heathrow to Venice; took the city bus from Venice Airport to Mestre Train Station; then walked across the street from the train station to the Best Western Plus Hotel Bologna in Mestre. On Tuesday, I took the train from Mestre Train Station to Venezia Santa Lucia to visit Venice for a day.

 

Then on Wednesday, I took the two hour train ride from Mestre to Trieste so that I would not have to stress on embarkation day (Thursday). This turned out to be one of my rare smarter decisions, as I found out that many of my fellow passengers on the Escape took the same scheduled Frecciarossa 9707 train to Trieste on Thursday morning and were delayed over three hours due to track conditions affected by inclement weather. Following their predicament on social media was harrowing, but it appears they arrived in time to board the ship. As it turned out, the ship’s departure was delayed for one hour in order to wait for 65 passengers stuck in a traffic jam from the airport due to an accident on the road.

 

Back in February, I used the Trenitalia app to book the Frecciarossa 9707 high speed train departing Venezia Mestre at 10:11am and arriving Trieste Centrale at 12:05pm. In Business Class you can select your own seat and there is room to store luggage. The ticket price was €13.90.

 

When I said there is room to store luggage I meant this…

 

 

All of the large luggage racks were taken (all 4 of them) so I had to be creative. There were not many riders in my carriage so I eventually moved my luggage across the aisle from me.

 

 

You receive a small snack in Business Class.

 

 

There were restrooms on the train but get into the habit of bringing your own tissues/toilet paper when traveling because you never know…

 

When we arrived in Trieste, there were no taxis waiting in a queue as you would expect at a train station. I crossed the street and walked across the plaza to a cafe in case I needed assistance. I had read that Ubers might be difficult in Trieste so I downloaded two apps: appTaxi and itTaxi. I first tried booking on appTaxi but no taxis were available. Then I used itTaxi and the taxi arrived in less than 5 minutes. The quick taxi ride to my hotel was €8.

 

While on the subject of taxis in Trieste, I strongly recommend downloading those taxi apps because taxis were hard to come by in Trieste. Even then, I had difficulty booking a taxi on embarkation day, as both the Escape and the Viva were in town, though docked at different ports.. I eventually asked my hotel to book a taxi for me, and it took them about 20 minutes just to get through to someone. 

 

I was prepared to walk to the port from the hotel...half a mile on flat streets is a cinch However, dragging that big wheeler and carrying a heavy backpack was not my idea of a vacation.

 

Thank you so much for this detailed post. I am going to clip and post it to my notes for my (hopeful) cruise in November.

[MedCruise_2022]

Thank you very much for this very interesting and detailed information/review. 

We will also be embarking at Trieste in October (2024) for our Eastern Mediterranean/Adriatic Seas /Greek Isles Cruise on the Dawn. Also staying for one night in Venice-Mestre, and taking the fast train from there to Trieste the day before the cruise. 

Looking forward to more of your port adventures/reviews.

Thanks again and happy sailing! Wishing you fair winds and calm waters!

 

[Seas2mountains]

Thank you so much for taking the time for this live review. I enjoyed reading about your experiences on the Prima on @mking8288’s wonderful live review. It’s so nice to get to hear about your adventures on the Escape. Thank you for sharing the details on how you got from Southampton to Trieste. 

 Enjoy the rest of your cruise! 

[Teachmother3]

4 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Before I get too far ahead and plunge into this port intensive sailing review, I want to take you guys back to Mestre and Trieste for a moment.

 

To recap, on Sunday I disembarked from the Prima in Southampton and stayed one night at the Moxy Southampton. On Monday I took the National Express coach from Southampton to Heathrow Airport; flew British Airways from Heathrow to Venice; took the city bus from Venice Airport to Mestre Train Station; then walked across the street from the train station to the Best Western Plus Hotel Bologna in Mestre. On Tuesday, I took the train from Mestre Train Station to Venezia Santa Lucia to visit Venice for a day.

 

Then on Wednesday, I took the two hour train ride from Mestre to Trieste so that I would not have to stress on embarkation day (Thursday). This turned out to be one of my rare smarter decisions, as I found out that many of my fellow passengers on the Escape took the same scheduled Frecciarossa 9707 train to Trieste on Thursday morning and were delayed over three hours due to track conditions affected by inclement weather. Following their predicament on social media was harrowing, but it appears they arrived in time to board the ship. As it turned out, the ship’s departure was delayed for one hour in order to wait for 65 passengers stuck in a traffic jam from the airport due to an accident on the road.

 

Back in February, I used the Trenitalia app to book the Frecciarossa 9707 high speed train departing Venezia Mestre at 10:11am and arriving Trieste Centrale at 12:05pm. In Business Class you can select your own seat and there is room to store luggage. The ticket price was €13.90.

 

When I said there is room to store luggage I meant this…

 

 

All of the large luggage racks were taken (all 4 of them) so I had to be creative. There were not many riders in my carriage so I eventually moved my luggage across the aisle from me.

 

 

You receive a small snack in Business Class.

 

 

There were restrooms on the train but get into the habit of bringing your own tissues/toilet paper when traveling because you never know…

 

When we arrived in Trieste, there were no taxis waiting in a queue as you would expect at a train station. I crossed the street and walked across the plaza to a cafe in case I needed assistance. I had read that Ubers might be difficult in Trieste so I downloaded two apps: appTaxi and itTaxi. I first tried booking on appTaxi but no taxis were available. Then I used itTaxi and the taxi arrived in less than 5 minutes. The quick taxi ride to my hotel was €8.

 

While on the subject of taxis in Trieste, I strongly recommend downloading those taxi apps because taxis were hard to come by in Trieste. Even then, I had difficulty booking a taxi on embarkation day, as both the Escape and the Viva were in town, though docked at different ports.. I eventually asked my hotel to book a taxi for me, and it took them about 20 minutes just to get through to someone. 

 

I was prepared to walk to the port from the hotel...half a mile on flat streets is a cinch However, dragging that big wheeler and carrying a heavy backpack was not my idea of a vacation.

 

Thank you so much for all of this! You are really helping me feel better prepared so we can enjoy our time on the ship in July! Your info on the train to take from Venice is so helpful as are your pictures! 

I do have a question about how far you said the port was from your hotel- from what I can see, your hotel is right in front of the port- was it not? We are planning to stay in a hotel that is a few streets or or another that is even farther back from Savoia Excelsior Palace Trieste... and was considering upgrading to be even closer and the hotel seems really nice but $100 more, I'm not sure we need to do that. 

Also- did you do any tours or sightseeing in Trieste, Split and/or Dubrovnik  that you recommend?  Specifically tour companies you highly recommend or do any on your own?

Thanks

[Sugar Magnolia]

1 hour ago, Teachmother3 said:

I do have a question about how far you said the port was from your hotel- from what I can see, your hotel is right in front of the port- was it not? We are planning to stay in a hotel that is a few streets or or another that is even farther back from Savoia Excelsior Palace Trieste... and was considering upgrading to be even closer and the hotel seems really nice but $100 more, I'm not sure we need to do that.

The Escape was docked directly across from the Savoia Excelsior Palace. However, I stayed at The Modernist Hotel which was less than half a mile from where the Escape was docked. 
 

It is important to note that the Viva was also porting in Trieste on the same day but was docked elsewhere. Per the map below, the top orange dot is where the Escape was docked and the bottom orange dot was where the Viva was docked. 
 

 

I recommend downloading the CruiseMapper app so that you can see precisely where your ship is docked on embarkation day. 

 

From experience, the embarkation port information provided by NCL can sometimes be wrong. For instance, last October when I sailed on the Getaway TA from Southampton, we were told that the Getaway would be docked at Horizon Terminal. However, some of us checked the Southampton cruise port schedule and noticed that MSC was scheduled to dock at Horizon on the same day; MSC and NCL do share Horizon Terminal but only one ship can dock. Despite multiple calls to NCL, we were told that the Getaway was scheduled to dock at Horizon. Instead, Getaway was docked at City Terminal and I was able to confirm this on the CruiseMapper app. 

[Sugar Magnolia]

1 hour ago, Teachmother3 said:

Also- did you do any tours or sightseeing in Trieste, Split and/or Dubrovnik  that you recommend?  Specifically tour companies you highly recommend or do any on your own?

I will write about my port excursion experience when I have a chance. The port intensive schedule and long port hours have led to sleep deprivation resulting in incoherence. 
 

[Rusty Shacklefjord]

Thank you for posting the entertainment schedule. I downloaded it from here instead of finding a copy on board. I also snapped a photo of the pour house schedule because I really want to see The Rumours performance.

[Teachmother3]

6 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

I will write about my port excursion experience when I have a chance. The port intensive schedule and long port hours have led to sleep deprivation resulting in incoherence. 
 

 

7 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

The Escape was docked directly across from the Savoia Excelsior Palace. However, I stayed at The Modernist Hotel which was less than half a mile from where the Escape was docked. 
 

It is important to note that the Viva was also porting in Trieste on the same day but was docked elsewhere. Per the map below, the top orange dot is where the Escape was docked and the bottom orange dot was where the Viva was docked. 
 

 

I recommend downloading the CruiseMapper app so that you can see precisely where your ship is docked on embarkation day. 

 

From experience, the embarkation port information provided by NCL can sometimes be wrong. For instance, last October when I sailed on the Getaway TA from Southampton, we were told that the Getaway would be docked at Horizon Terminal. However, some of us checked the Southampton cruise port schedule and noticed that MSC was scheduled to dock at Horizon on the same day; MSC and NCL do share Horizon Terminal but only one ship can dock. Despite multiple calls to NCL, we were told that the Getaway was scheduled to dock at Horizon. Instead, Getaway was docked at City Terminal and I was able to confirm this on the CruiseMapper app. 

You are so sweet, Sugar Magnolia! 

THANK you for taking your time to help me! I guess I saw the pictures of the one hotel (I had read the rest the day before and forgot what you had shared. I will download the CruiseMapper app. This is SO helpful. This will only be my husband and my 2nd cruise (Alaska last year on Sapphire Princess with 9 very experienced cruising couples- I just had to follow their plans. ; ) So glad kenny from our Roll Call shared your ... whatever this is called- blog,? forum?- I am new to Cruise Critic, too.  

BTW- LOVED ALASKA and cruising is fun!